Button-feeding device.



I 11. HASTINGS. BUTTON FEEDING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED HA3. 15,1909.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

2 SHBETSSHEET l.

' 1NVENTOR 5 E 5 5 E N H W H. HASTINGS. BUTTON FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15, 1909.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

2 SHEETBSHEET 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

.to by any suitable means,

HERBERT HASTINGS, or RocHRsTER, NEW YoRK, AssIeNoR To GERMAN-AMERICANBUTTON COMPANY, or ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. I

BUTTON-FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, HERBERT 1, citizen of the United States, residingat Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Button-Feeding Device, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in button feeding devices known asthe inclined hopper type; and the objects of my invention are, first, toprovide a button feeding device with a container that will hold aquantity of buttons in bulk, second, to provide means for selectingbuttons with a predetermined side uppermost from the container, third,to deliver at predetermined intervals one or more of the buttons thusselected. I attain these objects by the mechanism and parts shown in thedrawings in which Figure l is a section in elevation through the centerline :0 m of Fig. 2 of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view lookingperpendicularly upon the bottom of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a partial sectionalView taken at 2 2 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view taken atlines 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of parts shown in Figs.1, 2, 3 and 4. to better illustrate the delivering means.

Similar letters and numbers refer to similar parts in the differentviews.

The hopper bottom A .is the means directly and indirectly of supporting,guiding and holding all the parts of my device, and it is itselfattachedin any convenient manner to the machine to which it suppliesbuttons, and the buttons are conveyed thereeither by gravity through achute or otherwise. This bottom A has an annular groove a enlarged atthe top into a larger and shallower annular recess (1 In recess a is arevo-luble toothed ring B provided with teeth 6 which mesh with teeth 0in the driving pinion C which is revolubly supported in a recess (1. ofbottom A by the bracket D which is secured to the under side of A,withinthis bracket pinion C has a bearing stem 03 on the ex- HASTINGS,

terior end of which is a driving pulley E wh ch may receive rotationfrom any convenient source. To the upper face of ring B is secured aflat ring F for the purpo'se of keeping dirt, etc., out of the teeth ofthe ring, to the upper face of F is secured a serrated selecting ring Gwhich occupies recess a in A. Around the circumference of G andextending somewhat over-the face thereof is a hopper shell H with lugs71 through which screws k pass for securing said shell to A, this hoppershell serves to hold the buttons in bulk over the selecting ring G andalso holdssaid ring and attached rings in their respective places. Theserrations g in selecting ring' G are somewhat larger than the buttons,and the thickness of said ring is proportioned to the thickness of theedge of the button so that if a button gets in one of the serrationswith its oval side down the ring isnot thick enough to reach the edge ofthe button, and

itis therefore brushed out by the other buttons or falls out of itself.After thus collecting the buttons the desired side up, in

the ring G it is necessary to deliver them therefrom at regularintervals. To accomplish this I provide an oscillating member I whichoccupies a recess a in bottom A and is fulcrumed at the center there ofon a pin J and is covered and protected by the plate K. The outermostend of delivery member I is elongated at 71 and the outer circumferencethereof is slightly smaller than the inner circumference g of selectingring G so that there is a narrow separatingi'flange L between ring G anddc,- livering member I, the elongated portion of I has two recesses 2'opening through the circumference thereof and just lon enough toaccommodate a button so that itsouter edge comes inside of flange L; atthe center line of the-hopper the flange L is cut away at 1 allowingunobstructed passage from the serrations in ring Gito the recesses 2' inI as these serrations pass this opening and thus one button at a timegravity into the delivery member I and only one since any subsequentones that may delivery passes by be presented are held up in the ring Gby the button in i and continues around therein until it reaches theopening Z when there is no button in 6 in this way a number ofserrations g pass said opening for each button delivered and thus thechances of having a button to deliver at the desired time aremultiplied. Through the bottom A of the hopper underneath the elongatedend i of delivery member I and in line of the travel of the recesses 71as I is oscillated and at either side of the receiving point, are

openings a through which the buttons are delivered, alternately first onone side then on the other. To accomplish this the lower end of deliverymember I is forked at 2' and receives one end m of a bell crank lever Mwhich is pivoted on a stud N secured to bottom A, the other end of saidbell crank lever carries a roller 0 revolubly fixed thereto by stud P,which roller contacts with the inner circumference of the toothed ring Band is yieldably held thereagainst by the influence of the spring 0 sothat as the depressions and rises formed on the inner circumference ofsaid ring B, come opposite said roller said bell crank is alternatelyoscillated in one direction by said rises and in the opposite directionby said spring thus communicatin an oscillating motion with a dwell todehvery member I thus carrying a button first over one opening a andthen over the other releasing and delivering a button at eachoscillation. There are two recesses 71 iii the delivery member spaced.so that when one is at the delivery point the other is at the center inline with opening Z receiving a button from the selectingring G. Itsometimes happens that a button sticks between the openings a and thedelivery recess 6 if this happens at the positive stroke of the bellcrank lever M undue strain would be put on these parts and to obviatethis danger one side of the forked opening 71 of I is made yieldablethus allowing the delivery member to remain stationary in such a case.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent'is 1. In a hopperin combination a revoluble ring providedwith button carrying notches extending from the inner edge thereoftoward the outer edge, a bottom provided with a discharge opening withinsaid rin a movable plate covering said opening aving a button pocketcooperating with said button carrying notches, means for rotating thering, and means for moving the plate to deposit a button from its pocketinto the d1scharge opening.

2. A hopper having a revoluble ring provided with notches open at theinner c1rcumference thereof, a bottom provided with a discharge aperturewithin said ring, a movable plate covering the aperture provided with abutton pocket, means for rotating the ring and devices actuated by thelatter for periodically operating the plate to move its pocket over thedischarge aperture.

3. In a hopper having an inclined bottom provided with a dischargeopening near its upper edge and 'a revoluble feed ring supported on thebottomand passing above the opening therein, of a plate arranged withinthe ring and covering the opening and provided with a pocket cooperatingtherewith and means for periodically operating the plate to move itspocket over the discharge opening.

4. In an inclined hopper a revoluble ring having internally dischargingbutton. notches, a bottom provided with an annular recess to receive thering-and a discharge opening inside of said rlng, a plate covering saidopening and provided with a pocket, means for rotating the ring andintermittently actuating the plate to move its pocket over the dischargeopening,

5. In a hopper having an inclined bottom provided with a plurality ofdischarge openings, a revoluble ring arranged in proximity to 'saidbot-tom, a plate covering'said openings and provided with acorresponding plurality of button pockets, means for rotating the ringand intermittently operating the plate to move its pockets over theopenings.

6. In an inclined hopper a bottom provided with an annular recess and ashallow recess inside thereof provided with. a discharge opening, aplate arranged in said shallow recess covering said opening and providedwith abutton pocket, a feeding ring lying in the annular recess, meansfor rotating it and intermittently operating the plate to move itspocket over the discharge opening.

7. In a hopper having a bottom provided with an annular recess andhaving a discharge aperture, a driven ring lying in the recess and anotched feed plate attached to the ring, of an oscillatory platecovering the aperture, means for driving the ring, cam faces on thelatter and a lever attached to the hopper bottom and cooperating withthe cam faces to move said plate in one di- 9. A hopper having aninclined bottom ing, means for revolving the selecting ring providedwith a discharge opening and an andgneans for moving the plate. innularrecess, a shell connected to the bot- HERBERT HASTINGS.

om having lugs PIOJQCtlIlg over the edge 5 of the recess, a selectingring lying in the \Vitnesses:

latter beneath the lugs, a pivoted plate ar- LEONARD I. HALL,

ranged within the hopper covering the open- MILTON NoYEs.

